


Bright side of the moon

by spymaster



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Friendship, Multiverse, One Shot, Short One Shot, Strangers, Talk at bar, arrowverse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-05-26
Packaged: 2018-11-05 03:20:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11004885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spymaster/pseuds/spymaster
Summary: Lena met a strange woman at the bar and they realized their lives weren't so different from each other.Basicall the one where Lena meets Helena and fulfills my person wish to see Katie McGrath and Jessica de Gouw together in the set of SuperCorp





	Bright side of the moon

**Author's Note:**

> Requested by @littlemachine_ as a trade for her beautiful art :))
> 
> I hope you like this

It was a lonely and calm Friday night. Lena left L-Corp when the clock had ticked eleven strikes. Ritually she collected the papers, folding them neatly and set them aside. Her secretary, Jess, must have gone home by now. Lena Luthor always was the last one to leave.

Not just because she was a workaholic that she left so late. Lena was fully aware that she worked too much but besides work, she had no one. None of those so-called ‘friends’ she had made in Metropolis had called ever since she’d moved to National City. They had been talking behind her back about the decision of renaming the company, which she ignored deliberately. Lena was used to be judged on whatever she did. Her mother always told her to be grateful that the Luthors took her in, gave her a last name to be proud of. Ironically now it was a disgrace, according to everyone, being related to the most notorious terrorist on the planet who had almost drown entire California just to kill Superman.

Lena stood in the elevator, checking the watch constantly, as a habit when she had to wait for something. The doors opened and Lena strided across the lobby and out of the building, towards her car where a man in suit was waiting.

“Good evening, Miss Luthor.” Her driver, Chad, politely bowed and opened the door for her then he walked to the other side and got on driver’s seat. “Going home, Miss Luthor?”

“Yeah, well, where else could I go?” Lena nonchalantly answered, tried not to take in the pitiful look on Chad’s face. She sighed and leaned her cheek on her right palm, silently watching the city lights passing by.

When she was lost in the stream of traffic outside, Chad mentioned something that caught her attention, “Happy Birthday, Miss Luthor.”

Lena sat straight up, froze for a second before realized it was her birthday. A surprise chuckle escaped her lips as she acknowledged today was a special day. For her at least.

“Thank you, Chad. I forgot about it” she honestly remarked, smiling when she looked at the driver through the mirror. He blushed faintly.

“You should celebrate your birthday, Miss Luthor.”

“It’s a bit too late for this, don’t you think?” Lena was glad someone cared enough but she normally didn’t celebrate birthdays. Lena never had time to celebrate or someone to do it with, not since Lex had changed.

Chad shook his head, “It’s never too late, Miss. I’m sixty-four and my wife always bakes me a cake on my birthday. You’re young, single and beautiful, there’s no reason you shouldn’t enjoy your special day.”

Lena was taken aback by his compliment. Chad had always been a silent man, never spoke over two sentences with her. She had thought he was scared to talk to her but tonight that changed.

“That’s flattering, thank you. Well, what do you suggest?” Lena asked but not actually expected any answer that she would agree with, simply because she didn’t think she would be interested in any activities right now.

“I’ve found this bar, Millenia. It just opened few days ago and many young people go there so I think you should try.”

Lena’s eyes opened wide. She didn’t know Chad had interests in bars. “I don’t know, Chad. I don’t plan to get drunk on my birthday. I have to get on the Venture launch tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to get drunk. Just get in there, talk to strangers, be young.”

Lena chuckled lightly, started reconsidering on the decision to stay home. Maybe she could use a drink with a stranger. Hopefully that they wouldn’t shudder by her last name.

That was how she found herself at the bar, a drink in hand and lazily watching the people talking, laughing and drinking. Some men had approached her but as soon as she introduced herself as Lena Luthor, they quickly found an excuse to leave. Good, not like she wanted to be accompanied by people who were threatened by a word. But she was lowkey upset, too, that this birthday would go by like any other years.

“So strange to drink alone in a place full of people, right?” A female voice rang on her left and Lena looked over her shoulder to find a beautiful young woman in leather jacket over red shirt, tight black jeans and deep red fingernails. Her blue eyes had the piercing gaze that would make people feel like they could see your darkest secret. But Lena was not one to be intimidated by a pair of eyes.

“Aren’t you doing the same?” Lena arched an eyebrow, retorted behind the rim of her glass and then took a sip. Through her lashes she noticed the woman had a ring on her left hand. Was she married?

The other woman smiled to herself, then scooted closer to Lena’s chair, placing both of her elbows on the counter. “I have my reasons. Do you?”

“I’m celebrating.” Lena splurted out though almost laughed at her own words. She did not look like someone who was celebrating anything.

“Me too.” The other woman glanced at Lena, “is it an excuse to get drunk?”

Lena fought with her brain on whether or not she should tell the truth. Finally she answered, “My birthday.”

The brunette on her left chuckled, though she seemed sad. “My husband’s funeral.”

“Sorry to hear that.” Lena sat straight up, feeling like she should look less casual. “I had no idea.”

“Is it because of the jacket? Or the color red?” the blue eyed woman glanced down on her chest then back at Lena, “I look nothing like a widow, don’t I?

Lena sighed, thinking about how her mother Lillian had dressed in her father’s funeral. Like she was on a business trip. “There’s no such look. Grief changed people.”

There was a short silence between them. Lena’s words seemed to apply well on the other woman’s case because she just stared at Lena indifferently.

“Have you lost anyone?” the woman asked, taking another sip from her glass as Lena juggled her words. Yes or no? Had Lena lost anyone? Did she even have anyone to lose before? Her mind drifted back to the day the news about Lex went rival all over the world.

“Yes.”

“That sucks.” the woman replied with a breathy scoff.

“It sucks.” Lena agreed.

The stranger turned and faced Lena fully, offered a handshake, “Helena Bertineli.”

Lena didn’t hesitate to accept the gesture, “Lena Luthor.”

They both had the same look of surprise on their faces. Lena had expected the other woman to be feared by the name and started making excuses too but instead she commented, “You don’t know who I am.”

“I could say the same about you.” Lena quickly replied, sending both of them into another short silence. Their hands still attached when Helena shook Lena’s hand again with a smile on her face.

“So fresh to meet someone who doesn’t run when they hear your last name.”

The youngest Luthor reversed a little back to teenage Lena with her eyeroll and replied with sympathy, “Tell me about it.”

Turned out Helena had a lot in common with Lena. Her father was a notorious mafia boss of Starling city, wherever that was, must be in another country. When Lena told Helena about her own family’s legacy and how she wanted to change it in the public eye, the blue eyed woman frowned.

“Why don’t you just do something else? Are they even worth the effort?” The way Helena spoke was so full of hate but Lena understood it.

“It was easy to fall into their footsteps, you know. But in the end, I could never let it happen. I’m not a Luthor by blood so if anything, I’m not like them.” Lena took a deep breath and finished her drink, “my mother never lets me forget I was adopted.”

Helena looked down on her fingers, “well you’re lucky. Unfortunately I’m my father’s legit daughter. Can’t cut ties with that.”

Lena looked deep into Helena’s eyes, found bitterness and sorrow swirling in the color blue, making it appear darker and colder. This woman had gone through something horrible.

“What happened so bad that you want to cut ties with your family?” Lena normally didn’t particularly care about a stranger’s life, especially their personal trauma. She had enough of her own growing up as a Luthor. But Helena owned something extraordinary that drawn Lena to her, maybe because in a same situation they were so much alike yet so different.

“An unforgivable debt.” Helena shortly answered and then returned Lena with another question, “What makes you think you wouldn’t become like your family?”

“Nothing. I just have to keep reminding me that I’m not one of them. By blood or by any standards.”

Helena looked at Lena with a curious gaze but then stood up abruptly, “Then you are too good for them. I’d say you’re naive and I think you are. But I hope you’ll find someone as good as you to keep you on the bright side of the moon.”

“If you say so, I believe you’re still not too far in the dark.”

“I don’t want to be saved.” Helena coldly remarked.

“Because you haven’t found the one who is as dark as you.” Lena stood up as well, giving the bartender her credit card. His eyes almost fell out of the sockets seeing her name on the card but he quickly did his job and returned it to her. “Have some faith.”

“Look who’s talking.” Helena smiled kindly, “Nice talk, Lena Luthor.”

“Take care, Helena Bertineli.”

Without a signal, the woman wrapped themselves into a friendly and understanding hug. When they broke apart, Lena asked if they could meet again. She was thinking Helena could be her first friend in National City. But the taller brunette lightly shook her head.

“I don’t think it’s possible. This Earth is getting too soft for me.” Helena winked at Lena and the Luthor daughter was caught up with the phrase ‘this Earth’ like Helena was subtly telling her she came from another Earth. Her mind was rolling on the theory of multiverse when Helena nodded with a “Farewell, unexpected drink buddy.”

With that, the brunette left the bar.

Their conversation had stuck in Lena’s head for a long time, even when she was accused for being responsible for the explosion on the Venture launch, or being assassinated by her own brother. It was a bad time but nothing Lena hadn’t expected. The only thing Lena never saw it coming was Helena’s wish for Lena coming true. The one that was good enough to see through her last name and the prejudice that came with it. The one who genuinely saw her as Lena, the girl who wanted to build something outside of her family. The one who always had faith in Lena, giving her the benefit of the doubt. 

Kara Danvers, her bright side of the moon.


End file.
